screen for the delegates to see. i moved adoption of the amendment as amended. >> the motion has been made it. is there a second? any further discussion customer the matter requires a two-thirds vote in the affirmative. all of the delegates in favor say i. all of the delegates opposed, say no. in the opinion -- let me do that again. all of this delegates in favor say i. all thsoe delegates opposed say no. i - um - i guess >> you have to let them do what they are going to do.

>> i will do that one more time. all those delegates in favor say aye. all those delegates opposed say no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 voted in the affirmative and the motion is adopted and the platform has been amended. thank you very much. thank you. governor strickland, thank you for your service. governor strickland, thank you again for your service as chair of the platform drafting committee. host: it took three votes to pass that. it was mentioning god as part of the platform and jerusalem as the capital of israel. we're taking your calls and getting your reactions of what is taking place in charlotte.

the democrats' line is up next from michigan. caller: i want to give my opinion. this is the first election i will be able to vote in. i am a younger voter and i watch the convention day after day. i am very excited about what is being said and impressed with the way the democrats are taking the focus on education and preventive services, things that take rights away from people. host: has there been any speakers you especially like to? caller: i enjoy seeing the women of congress and the women candidates. as a female, that really inspires me. there are people just like me in office working for issues that

are relevant to myself. host: in just a little while, we will take a look at some of the speeches from last night. elizabeth warren of massachusetts was running for senate and the georgetown university professor. next call is on the republican line. caller: this is my first election also. i admire bill clinton a lot. i just cannot see him defending the job record of obama. when he ran in 1992, is as for about how the economy was bad and how people lost household income. my mom has been a teacher for 35 years and she got her social security record in the mail. her income in 1999 when bill

clinton was president, in 2012, she is making the same or less money that she was making the last 10 years. i think george w. bush and the obama administration have been a complete failure to the middle class in this country and that is why i think we need a new change. i personally think we need new leadership. fact that the democratic party declared jerusalem the capital of israel and they took care of god and i saw that on tv right ow, it sounded like the no's more than the affirmative. host: didn't impress you that they put a beckham? caller:no, i think they had to put it in. the democratic party is not the same as it used to be. is more to the left.

republicans are just as bad. they have gone really right. i don't see a compromise in the next few years because i think the young people are skeptical of all these entitlement programs. i don't know how we will pay for all of these. our debt is getting higher, $16 trillion. that is pretty bad. i am graduating college in a year. but all the jobs i have seen are paying $10 or $15 per hour. host: here is a tweet -- we are looking at some live shots of people outside the

convention center. there are some vendors and there are protesters who have been amassing outside the convention center where media and delegates have been gathering and we talked to protesters yesterday. they range from occupy protesters to anti-abortion protesters. you can see the barriers that have been set up. not a lot of traffic in uptown charlotte. people are able to get in this area and protesters have been walking around the perimeter you are seeing right now throughout the week. but good to cherry hill, new jersey, on our independent line. caller: good afternoon, i listened to the bill clinton's speech last night. not to sound too broad it -- i listened to sanders last night. bill clinton of course

overshadowed him. what a remarkable young lady she is. it was very inspirational with her courage and demeanor and how respectful she was when she spoke. that being said, my view of listening to the bill clinton speech and listening to both platforms and being an independent, my view is after the speeches, i think the way she presented president obama was that president obama -- he faced the moment of his tenure as the president in a way that i don't think any other president could do any better with the circumstances. what is really bothering me is with the republican party platform.

i did not get with their ideology is in the future to where it will take us. it presents me with a question in my mind of what their intention is for the future of the united states. speechthat tonight's with the president certainly does not cast disparaging notes to the republican party which, as an independent, they are do nothing parties for the last couple of years and it seems like the president currently has been the most disrespectful in my lifetime. that is unfortunate and sad for our country. we have to be reminded that we are in a global recession. it is not just the united states. i hope the president tonight

gives us a better insight not just on how he will work more broadly, i think that is a dead issue. the difficulties he faces is more of a communicating issue. he has not done an effective job of communicating that to the american people. i thank you for your time. host: we have been watching live images from the cspan crew on the ground outside the convention center here in uptown charlotte. the vendors are selling their wares, everything from 2012 democrat buttons to barack obama faces. someone put the mask on with a smiling president. the media is gathered at the convention center. caucuses anden's pro-israel caucuses. they have been meeting on location at hotels throughout

the charlotte region. we have been checking in with delegates as well as people from around the country this week to get their take on the democratic convention through social media. we have been collecting short video tweets. i am a student in tampa and i covered the rnc. >> i am here at htc, tampa. the most important issue is to bring back the troops and rebuilding the military. >> i am from texas and the most important issue of the day is to rebuild our economy and restore

the pre-eminence of the united states and national defence. >> i had a great experience at the convention so far. i got here last thursday. it was an interesting experience. host:touts that we collected this week. we have been collecting them from delegates and people around the country. you can tout in your comments. we are here in charlotte for the democratic convention and we are taking your calls. pontiac, mich., on a republican . caller: thanks for taking my call. i was born and raised in pontiac, michigan. i have seen almost the death of this city. we lost a lot of jobs here.

the president is showing people that he cares we have the republican party not try to compromise for the american people. the want to see obama failed. the price of gas is going up and the cost of health care is going up. the paul ryan helped plan is a sham. it is a giveaway to the rich.

governor romney has talked about the disparity of wealth or prosperity. some of the things he did were unethical. that made him a billionaire. i do not understand how anybody who gets up every morning and goes to work -- how could someone vote republican when they have done nothing as you go back further and further. we find ourselves deeper in debt. 1987 was the most amazing time in my life. from that point to this point, all i have seen is a lot of

money lost and the lot of jobs lost in between democratic control. host: list of a rigid list take a look at a tweet -- let's go to pearl in el segundo, california. caller: thanks for taking my call. i want to bring up the point that as i watch the different campaigns, i think what is bad is that in the democratic party, the dnc is being looked at as welfare recipients when the focus in the conversation is about middle-class people. they are constantly bringing up

conversations with cspan about people on welfare. i think all republicans, caucasian republicans, need to buy that book by john walsh that talks about what's the matter with white people. when you look at the demographics from the republican campaign, the convention, and the democratic convention, you see the diversity. this is what the melting pot is all about, diversity we should be helping each other, not tearing each other down. to all those republicans, evangelical christians, shame on you. host: here is another tweet -- st. louis, missouri, democrats online. caller: how're you?

thank you for taking my call. this is a good way for me and all americans to find out what is going on by watching c-span. i watched both conventions so far. host: you liked the speech of mitt romney the candidate? caller: i don't care for mitt romney. he is way too often the issues. -- he is way too off on the issues. i could not vote for him. i think obama is doing as good a job as he can. that is a tough road to handle.

host: did you get to hear the speech from rep cleaver yesterday? caller: yes. host: what did you think about that? caller: i think duval patrick did a great speech and she was very affected. -- effected. - effective. we can lead mitt romney off the hook about tax returns because i don't think he has paid taxes for the last 10 years. host: thanks for your calls. we will be hearing mall -- more later today. let's take a look at some of the speeches from last night. elizabeth

♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome elizabeth warren. [applause] you. i am elizabeth warren, and this is my first democratic convention. [applause] >> warren, warren, warren! >> i never thought i would run for the senate, and i never dreamed i would be the warm-up act for president bill clinton. he is an amazing man who had the good sense to marry one of the coolest women on this planet. i want to give a shout out to the massachusetts delegate. i am counting on your to help me win and to help president obama win. i am here tonight to talk about people who come home at night to cook dinner and help out with

homework, people who can be counted on to help their neighbors, people who work their hearts out better of it against our hard-fought truths. the game is rigged against them. i grew up on the ragged edges of the middle class. my dad ended up a maintenance man. after he had a heart attack, my mom worked the phones at sears so we could hold on to our house. all three of my brothers served in the military. one was career and a second a convenient job in construction andthe third started a small business. me,i was waiting tables of 13 and married at 19. i graduated from public school

andi taught elementary school. i have a wonderful husband, two grade children, and three beautiful grandchildren, and i am grateful down to my toes for every opportunity america gave me. this is a great country. [applause] i grew up in an america of the skit, -- in its kids, and america that created not social security and medicare so seniors could live in dignity, and america in which each generation build something solid so the next generation could build something better, but now for many years our middle-class has been shipped, squeezed, and

hammered. worker i met from massachusetts. who went nine months without finding work. talk to the head of manufacturing worried about rising costs, to the student who work hard to finish his degree, and now he is drowning in debt. their fight is my fight, and it too. [applause] that's right, yes. people feel like the system is rigged against them, and here is the painful parts. they are right. the system is rigged. look around. oil companies a double down the billions in profits.

billionaires paid a lower tax rate than their secretary, and wall street ceo's, the same ones the direct our economy and destroyed millions of jobs still strut around congress, no shame, demanding favors, and acting like we should thank them. does anyone here have a problem with that? [applause] i do, too. i talked to small business owners all across massachusetts, and not one of them made big bucks from the risky bet said brought down our economy. i spoke to firefighters, people who've lost their tales every day, and not one of them stashes their money in the cayman islands to avoid paying their fair share of taxes.

[applause] these folks don't resent that someone else made more money. we are americans. good we celebrate success. we just do not want the game to be rigged. about a century ago when corrosive read threatened our corrosive greed threaten our way of life, americans came together. under the leadership of teddy roosevelt another progressives to bring in our nation back from the brink. give we started to take children out of factories and put them in schools. we began to give meaning to the word consumer protection by making food and medicine saves, -- safe. and we gave the little guy's a better chance to compete by

preventing the big guys from reading the markets. -- radey net the market. we turned adversity into progress because that's what we do. [applause] americans are fighters. we are resourceful and creative, and if we have the chance to fight on allowable playing field -- on a level playing field, no one can stop us. [applause] president obama get it because he spent his life fighting for the middle class, and we know and he is fighting to the economy does not grow from the top down but from the middle class out and from the bottom up. that is how we create jobs and reduce the debt.

[applause] mitt romney wants to give tax cuts to millionaires and billionaires, but for middle- class families taking on by -- hanging on by their fingernails, his plan will hammer them with the new tax $2,000. [boos] mitt romney wants to give billions in breaks to big corporations, but he and paul ryan would pulverize financial reform, dr. rice -- voucherize medicare and vaporize obamacare. [applause] the republican vision --it is clear -- i got mine. the rest of you are on your own. republicans say they do not believe in government.

sure, they do. they believe in government to help themselves and their powerful friends. [applause] after all,mitt romney is the guy that said corporations are people. no, governor romney, corporations are not people. people have hearts. they have kids. they get jobs. -- sick. they live, and they die, and that matters. that matters. [applause] that matters because we do not run this country for corporations. we run it for people, and that is why we need barack obama.

[applause] after the financial crisis, president obama knew that we have to clean of wall street. -- clean up wall street. for years families have been tricked by credit cards, fooled by student loans, and she did buy mortgages. -- and cheated on mortgages. i have an idea for the consumer protection agency to stop this. [applause] the big banks did not like this, and they marshall one of the biggest lobbying forces on earth to destroy the agency before it ever saw the light of day. american families did not have an army of lobbyists on our side. of what we have was the president, president obama leading the way. [applause]

when the lobbyists were closing in for the kill, where rock obama -- barack obama planted his feet and stood firm, and that is how we won the right road -- how we won. [applause] by the way,just a few weeks ago that agency, one of the biggest credit card companies cheating its customers and made it give people back every penny it took plus millions of dollars in fines. [applause] that's what happens when you have a president on this side of the middle class. [applause] president obama believes in a level playing field. he believes in a country where nobody gets a free ride or a golden parachute, a country where anyone who has a great idea or roles of their sleeves has a chance to build a business, and anyone who works

hard can raise a family. and build some security. president obama believes in a country where billionaires pay their taxes just like their secretaries do. [applause] i cannot believe i have to say this in 2012, a country where women get equal pay for equal work. [applause] [applause] he believes in a country where everyone is held accountable, where no one can still your purse on main street or your attention on wall street. -- your pension on wall street. [applause] president obama believes in a country where we invest in the future so we can create new

opportunities where the next kid can make it big and the next 1. and a kid after that. that is what president obama believes. [applause] that is how we build the economy of the future. it is an economy with more jobs and less debt,we rooted in fairness. we build it together. we grow up with opportunity. [applause] i grew up in a methodist church and taught sunday school, and one of my favorite scriptures is "in as much as ye have done it to the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."

matheww 25:40. each other and that we are to act together. senator ted kennedy understood-- call. [applause] four years ago he addressed our convention for the last time. he said we never lost our believe we are all called for a better country and a newer world. generation after generation, americans have answered that call, and now we are called again. we are called to restore opportunity for every american. and we are called to give the american working families of fighting shia zero years and we have a fighting chance. better.

to build something solid so the next generation can build something better. let me ask you --are you ready to answer this call? [applause] playing field? are you ready to fight for good jobs? are you ready for another generation of americans that we can build a better country and a newer world. joe biden is ready. barack obama is ready. i am ready. you are ready. thank you. [applause] god bless america.

please welcome sandra fluk los angeles, california.

>> one future looks like an offensive obsolete relic of our past. warnings of that future and not distractions.

they are not imagine that. that future could become real. in that america, your new president could be a man who stands by when a public figure tries to silence a private citizen with hateful slurs. [applause] toan who won't stand up those slurs or to any of the extreme bigoted voices in his own party. it would be an america in which you have a new vice president who co-sponsored a bill that would allow pregnant women to die preventable deaths in our emergency rooms. as america, in which states humiliate women by forcing us to endure in days of ultrasound

that we don't want and our doctors say that we don't need. an america in which access to birth control is controlled by people who will never use it. [applause] and america in which politicians redefine rape and victims are victimized all over again. in which someone decides which domestic violence victim deserves access to services and which don't. we know what this america would look like. in a few short months, that is the america we could be but that is not the america we should be and it is not who we are. [applause]

we have also seen another america we could choose. in that america, we would have the right to choose. [applause] it is and america in which no one can charge as more than men for the exact same health insurance. in which no one can deny us affordable access to the cancer screenings that could save our lives. in which we decide when to start our families. an america in which our president, when he hears that a young woman has been verbally attacked, thinks of his daughters, not his delegates or his donors. [applause]

and in which our president stands with all women and strangers come together and reach out and lift her up. and then, instead of trying to silence her, you invite me here. [applause] and you give me this microphone to amplify our voice. [applause] that is the difference. over the last six months, i have seen what these two futures look like and six months from now, we are all going to be living in one future or the other. but only one.

a country where president either has our backs were turned his back. [applause] -- or turns his back. a country that honors our for mothers by moving us forward or one that forces our generation to re-fight battles they already won. [applause] a country where we mean it when we talk about personal freedom. [applause] or one where that freedom does not apply to our bodies or our voices. we talked often about choice. ladies, and gentlemen, it is now time to choose. [applause]

♪ [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> you have been watching some of the highlights from last night and we will go now to a live shot inside the time warner cable arena. there is activity going on but the speeches will not go on. the foo fighters are on the stage. we can take a look at what they are doing. it is part of the action happening as far as the democratic convention this week. there is a lot of activity but not just at night time when the speeches are happening but during the day. you can see images from outside, on the streets of uptown charlotte. and also the nearby convention center where media is operating and delegates are mingling. you can see some of the sights and sounds and cspan crews are giving you live. let's take a look.

>> hi, how are you? , huh? i came away from pennsylvania and my girlfriend came from california. >> i am from florida. we want four more years of barack obama. we called for obama, over 1000 phone calls. >> sights, sounds, and voices outside in uptown charlotte at the democratic national convention. we will be checking in with what

is happening inside the arena but also outside on the streets where our cspan crew is getting a sense of what the atmosphere is like down here in charlotte this week. in a little while, at 3:30, we will go to our preview of the convention. this will be an event where we will get to hear from some of the movers and shakers in charlotte this week and our guests include the editor in chief of "the national journal." that is at 3:30. the speakers tonight include president barack obama who will officially accept the nomination to be on the democratic ticket and we will hear from the vice- president, joe biden, and senator john kerry, democrat of massachusetts. they're all speakers tonight and c-span will bring you live coverage throughout the convention. we were in tampa last week and we are in charlotte this week. throughout the evening, our cameras won't shut down until

the action stops on the convention floor. during the conventions, we are asking middle and high school students to send a message to the president as part of this year's cspan studentcam of video documentary competition. what is the most important issue of the president to consider in 2013? get your video to cspan by january 18 for a chance to win the grand prize of $5,000. there is $50,000 in total prize is available. the cspan studentcam video competition is open for students from grade 6-12. complete details and rules are on line at studentcam.org. a message to the president is the theme. in just a moment, we will take a look at the other speech that president the bombing gave from 2008 in denver when he gave his acceptance speech for the

nomination heading into that campaign season. let's take a listen to president obama four years ago. [applause] ♪ ♪ ♪> ♪

>> thank you. [applause] thank you. [applause] thank you. thank you. thank you so much, thank you. thank you so much. thank you. thank you so much, thank you. thank you so much. thank you. thank you. thank you. thank you so much, thank you. thank you very much. thank you. thank you.

thank you so much everybody. thank you so much. ank you. thank you. audience: obama! >> thank you. yes, we can! we! >> thank you. thank youmuch. thank you very much. thank u, everybody. to chairman dean and myat friend dick durbin, ao all my fellow citizens ofs

great nation with pround gratitude andat to chairman dean and my great friend dick durbin, and to all my fellow citizens of this great nation, with profound gratitude and great humility, i accept your nomination for presidency of the united states. [applause] let me -- let me express -- let me express my thanks to the hioric slate of candidates o accompanied me on this journey, and especially one o traveled the farthest, a champion for working americans annnspiration to my daughters and yours, hillary

dham clinton. [applause] to presi con, to presidentl clinton, who made lasththe case for change as only he could make it. [applause] to ted kennedy, who embodies e spirit of service. and to th next vice pdent de thank you. statjoe [applause] grateful to finish this journey with one of the finest

statesmen ofur time, man at ease with everyone from world leaders to the conductors on the amtrack train he still takes home every night. tohe love of my life, our next first ladhelle [applause] and to malia, and sasha, i love you so much,nd i'm so proud of y. [applause] four years ago i stoodefore you and told you my story, of th brief union between a young

manm kenya and a young woman from kansas who weren't weff or welown, but son could achieve whaver hr put his mind to. its always that promiset set ts count apart, that throhard work and sacrifice each of us cansu our individureams but still family to ensure that the next generatian pursue their dreams as well. 's why i s here tonight. because for 232 years, at each moment when that promias in jeopar, ornaryen and women,tudents and soldiers, farms an teachers, nurses and jars found the courage to keep it alive. we meet at onef those fining moments. a momt when our nations at war,ur economy is in turmoil, and theri promise has been threatenence more.

night, more americans are out of work and more areking harder for less. more o you have lostheir homes, a even morre tching your home values ument. more of you h cars youan afford tove, credit car, bills you can't afford to pay ton beyond your re these cenges are not all of government's making, but the failure to resnd is a direct result of a broken politicsn wagton and theled policies of ge w. bush. ppe] ama, we are betthan these last eight years. we are a bette country than this. thisntry's more decent than e where a woman in ohio on

the brink ofetiremt finds herself one illness away from disaster after a lime of haor we're a bette country than one wherean indiana has to pack up the equipment he's worked f0 yearsnd watch a it's shipped off to china and then chokes as h te his family the news. we are more compassionate tn a government that letseters sleep on our streets america, we are better than these last eight years. we are a better country than this. this country is more decent than one where a woman in ohio, on the brink of retirement, finds herself one illness away from disaster after a lifetime of hard work. we're a better country than one where a man in indiana has to pack up the equipment that he's worked on for 20 years and watch as it's shipped off to china, and then chokes up as he explains how he felt like a failure when he went home to tell his family the news. we are more compassionate than a government that lets veterans sleep on our streets and families slide into poverty -- that sits -- that sits on its hands while a major american city drowns before our eyes. tonight, tonight, i say to the people of america, to democrats and republicans and independents across this great land -- enough. this moment --

[applause] this moment, this moment, this election is our chance to keep, in the 21st century, the american promise alive. because next week, in minnesota, the same party that brought you two terms of george bush and dick cheney will ask this country for a third. [boos] and we are here -- we are here because we love this country too much to let the next four years look just like the last eight. [applause] on november 4th, on november 4th, we must stand up and say: eight is enough. [applause] now, now, let me -- let there

be no doubt. the republican nominee, john mccain, has worn the uniform of our country with bravery and distinction, and for that we owe him our gratitude and our respect. [applause] and next week, we'll also hear about those occasions when he's broken with his party as evidence that he can deliver the change that we need. but the record's clear. john mccain has voted with george bush 90% of the time. senator mccain likes to talk about judgment, but, really, what does it say about your

judgment when you think george bush has been right more than 90% of the time? [applause] i don't know about you, but i am not ready to take a 10% chance on change. [applause] the truth is, on issue after issue that would make a difference in your lives -- on health care, and education, and the economy -- senator mccain has been anything but independent. he said that our economy has made great progress under this president. he said that the fundamentals of the economy are strong. and when one of his chief advisers, the man who wrote his economic plan, was talking about the anxieties that americans are feeling, he said

that we were just suffering from a mental recession and that we've become, and i quote, "a nation of whiners." [boos] a nation of whiners? tell that to the proud auto workers at a michigan plant who, after they found out it was closing, kept showing up every day and working as hard as ever, because they knew there were people who counted on the brakes that they made. tell that to the military families who shoulder their burdens silently as they watch their loved ones leave for their third, or fourth, or fifth tour of duty. these are not whiners. they work hard, and they give back, and they keep going without complaint. these are the americans i know. [applause]

now, i don't believe that senator mccain doesn't care what's going on in the lives of americans. i just think he doesn't know. why else would he define middle-class as someone making under $5 million a year? how else could he propose hundreds of billions in tax breaks for big corporations and oil companies, but not one penny of tax relief to more than 100 million americans? how else could he offer a health care plan that would actually tax people's benefits, or an education plan that would do nothing to help families pay for college, or a plan that would privatize social security and gamble your retirement? it's not because john mccain doesn't care. it's because john mccain doesn't

get it. two decades, he's subscribed to that old, discredited republican philosophy. give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else. in washington, they call this the "ownership society," but what it really means is that you're on your own. [laughter] out of work? tough luck, you're on your own. no health care? the market will fix it. you're on your own. born into poverty? pull yourself up by your own bootstraps, even if you don't have boots. you are on your own. [cheers] well, it's time for them to own their failure. it's time for us to change america.

and that's why i'm running for president of the united states. [cheers and applause] you see, you see, we democrats have a very different measure of what constitutes progress in this country. we measure progress by how many people can find a job that pays the mortgage, whether you can put a little extra money away at the end of each month so you can someday watch your child receive her college diploma. we measure progress in the 23 million new jobs that were created when bill clinton was president-- [cheers and applause] when the average american family saw its income go up $7,500 instead of go down $2,000, like it has under george bush. [applause]

we measure the strength of our economy not by the number of billionaires we have or the profits of the fortune 500, but by whether someone with a good idea can take a risk and start a new business, or whether the waitress who lives on tips can take a day off and look after a sick kid without losing her job, an economy that honors the dignity of work. the fundamentals we use to measure economic strength are whether we are living up to that fundamental promise that has made this country great, a promise that is the only reason i am standing here tonight. because, in the faces of those young veterans who come back from iraq and afghanistan, i see my grandfather, who signed up after pearl harbor, marched in patton's army, and was rewarded by a grateful nation with the chance to go to college on the g.i. bill. in the face of that young student, who sleeps just three hours before working the night

shift, i think about my mom, who raised my sister and me on her own while she worked and earned her degree, who once turned to food stamps, but was still able to send us to the best schools in the country with the help of student loans and scholarships. [applause] when i -- when i listen to another worker tell me that his factory has shut down, i remember all those men and women on the south side of chicago who i stood by and fought for two decades ago after the local steel plant closed. and when i hear a woman talk about the difficulties of starting her own business or making her way in the world, i think about my grandmother, who worked her way up from the secretarial pool to middle management, despite years of being passed over for promotions because she was a woman. she's the one who taught me about hard work. she's the one who put off buying a new car or a new dress for herself so that i could have a better life.

she poured everything she had into me. and although she can no longer travel, i know that she's watching tonight and that tonight is her night, as well. [cheers and applause] now, i don't know what kind of lives john mccain thinks that celebrities lead, but this has been mine. these are my heroes. theirs are the stories that shaped my life. [cheers and applause] and it is on behalf of them that i intend to win this election and keep our promise alive as president of the united states. [cheers and applause] what -- what is that american promise?

it's a promise that says each of us has the freedom to make of our own lives what we will, but that we also have obligations to treat each other with dignity and respect. it's a promise that says the market should reward drive and innovation and generate growth, but that businesses should live up to their responsibilities to create american jobs, to look out for american workers, and play by the rules of the road. ours -- ours is a promise that says government cannot solve all our problems, but what it should do is that which we cannot do for ourselves. protect us from harm and provide every child a decent education, keep our water clean and our toys safe, invest in new schools, and new roads, and science, and technology. our government should work for us, not against us. it should help us, not hurt us. it should ensure opportunity

not just for those with the most money and influence, but for every american who's willing to work. that's the promise of america, the idea that we are responsible for ourselves, but that we also rise or fall as one nation, the fundamental belief that i am my brother's keeper, i am my sister's keeper. that's the promise we need to keep. that's the change we need right now. [cheers and applause] so -- so let me -- let me spell out exactly what that change would mean if i am president. change means a tax code that doesn't reward the lobbyists who wrote it, but the american workers and small businesses who deserve it. you know, unlike john mccain, i will stop giving tax breaks to companies that ship jobs

overseas, and i will start giving them to companies that create good jobs right here in america. [cheers and applause] i'll eliminate capital gains taxes for the small businesses and start-ups that will create the high-wage, high-tech jobs of tomorrow. [applause] i will -- listen now -- i will cut taxes -- cut taxes -- for 95% of all working families, because, in an economy like this, the last thing we should do is raise taxes on the middle class. [cheers and applause] and for the sake of our economy, our security, and the future of our planet, i will set a clear goal as president. in 10 years, we will finally end our dependence on oil from

the middle east. we will do this. washington -- washington has been talking about our oil addiction for the last 30 years. and, by the way, john mccain has been there for 26 of them. [laughter] and in that time, he has said no to higher fuel-efficiency standards for cars, no to investments in renewable energy, no to renewable fuels. and today, we import triple the amount of oil than we had on the day that senator mccain took office. now is the time to end this addiction and to understand that drilling is a stop-gap measure, not a long-term solution, not even close.

[cheers and applause] as president, as president, i will tap our natural gas reserves, invest in clean coal technology, and find ways to safely harness nuclear power. i'll help our auto companies re-tool, so that the fuel- efficient cars of the future are built right here in america. [cheers and applause] i'll make it easier for the american people to afford these new cars. and i'll invest $150 billion over the next decade in affordable, renewable sources of energy -- wind power, and solar power, and the next generation of biofuels -- an investment that will lead to new industries and 5 million new jobs that pay well and can't be outsourced. [cheers and applause]

america, now is not the time for small plans. now is the time to finally meet our moral obligation to provide every child a world-class education, because it will take nothing less to compete in the global economy. you know, michelle and i are only here tonight because we were given a chance at an education. and i will not settle for an america where some kids don't have that chance. [cheers and applause] i'll invest in early childhood education. i'll recruit an army of new teachers, and pay them higher salaries, and give them more support. and in exchange, i'll ask for

higher standards and more accountability. and we will keep our promise to every young american: if you commit to serving your community or our country, we will make sure you can afford a college education. [cheers and applause] now -- now is the time to finally keep the promise of affordable, accessible health care for every single american. if you have health care -- if you have health care, my plan will lower your premiums. if you don't, you'll be able to get the same kind of coverage that members of congress give themselves. [cheers and applause] and -- and as someone who watched my mother argue with insurance companies while she lay in bed dying of cancer, i

will make certain those companies stop discriminating against those who are sick and need care the most. [cheers and applause] now is the time to help families with paid sick days and better family leave, because nobody in america should have to choose between keeping their job and caring for a sick child or an ailing parent. now is the time to change our bankruptcy laws, so that your pensions are protected ahead of ceo bonuses, and the time to protect social security for future generations. [cheers and applause] and now is the time to keep the promise of equal pay for an equal day's work, because i want my daughters to have the exact same opportunities as your sons. [cheers and applause]

now, many of these plans will cost money, which is why i've laid out how i'll pay for every dime: by closing corporate loopholes and tax havens that don't help america grow. but i will also go through the federal budget line by line, eliminating programs that no longer work and making the ones we do need work better and cost less, because we cannot meet 21st-century challenges with a 20th-century bureaucracy. [cheers and applause] and, democrats, democrats, we must also admit that fulfilling america's promise will require more than just money. it will require a renewed sense of responsibility from each of

us to recover what john f. kennedy called our intellectual and moral strength. yes, government must lead on energy independence, but each of us must do our part to make our homes and businesses more efficient. yes, we must provide more ladders to success for young men who fall into lives of crime and despair. but we must also admit that programs alone can't replace parents, that government can't turn off the television and make a child do her homework, that fathers must take more responsibility to provide love and guidance to their children. [cheers and applause] individual responsibility and mutual responsibility, that's the essence of america's

promise. and just as we keep our promise to the next generation here at home, so must we keep america's promise abroad. if john mccain wants to have a debate about who has the temperament and judgment to serve as the next commander-in- chief, that's a debate i'm ready to have. [cheers and applause] for -- for while -- while senator mccain was turning his sights to iraq just days after 9/11, i stood up and opposed this war, knowing that it would distract us from the real threats that we face. when john mccain said we could just muddle through in

afghanistan, i argued for more resources and more troops to finish the fight against the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11, and made clear that we must take out osama bin laden and his lieutenants if we have them in our sights. [cheers and applause] you know, john mccain likes to say that he'll follow bin laden to the gates of hell, but he won't even follow him to the cave where he lives. [cheers and applause] and today, today, as my call for a timeframe to remove our troops from iraq has been echoed by the iraqi government and even the bush administration, even after we learned that iraq has

$79 billion in surplus while we are wallowing in deficit, john mccain stands alone in his stubborn refusal to end a misguided war. that's not the judgment we need. that won't keep america safe. we need a president who can face the threats of the future, not keep grasping at the ideas of the past. you don't defeat -- you don't defeat a terrorist network that operates in 80 countries by occupying iraq. you don't protect israel and deter iran just by talking tough in washington. you can't truly stand up for georgia when you've strained our oldest alliances.

if john mccain wants to follow george bush with more tough talk and bad strategy, that is his choice, but that is not the change that america needs. [cheers and applause] we are the party of roosevelt. we are the party of kennedy. so don't tell me that democrats won't defend this country. don't tell me that democrats won't keep us safe. the bush-mccain foreign policy has squandered the legacy that generations of americans, democrats and republicans, have built, and we are here to restore that legacy. [cheers] as commander-in-chief, i will never hesitate to defend this

nation, but i will only send our troops into harm's way with a clear mission and a sacred commitment to give them the equipment they need in battle and the care and benefits they deserve when they come home. [applause] i will end this war in iraq responsibly and finish the fight against al qaida and the taliban in afghanistan. i will rebuild our military to meet future conflicts, but i will also renew the tough, direct diplomacy that can prevent iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and curb russian aggression. i will build new partnerships to defeat the threats of the 21st century: terrorism and nuclear proliferation, poverty and genocide, climate change and disease. and i will restore our moral standing so that america is once again that last, best hope for all who are called to the cause of freedom, who long for lives of peace, and who yearn

for a better future. [cheers and applause] these -- these are the policies i will pursue. and in the weeks ahead, i look forward to debating them with john mccain. but what i will not do is suggest that the senator takes his positions for political purposes, because one of the things that we have to change in our politics is the idea that people cannot disagree without challenging each other's character and each other's patriotism. [cheers and applause] the times are too serious, the stakes are too high for this

same partisan playbook. so let us agree that patriotism has no party. i love this country, and so do you, and so does john mccain. the men and women who serve in our battlefields may be democrats and republicans and independents, but they have fought together, and bled together, and some died together under the same proud flag. they have not served a red america or a blue america. they have served the unid states of america. [cheers and applause]

so i've got news for you, john mccain. we all put our country first. america, our work will not be easy. the challenges we face require tough choices. and democrats, as well as republicans, will need to cast off the worn-out ideas and politics of the past, for part of what has been lost these past eight years can't just be measured by lost wages or bigger trade deficits. what has also been lost is our sense of common purpose, and that's what we have to restore. we may not agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country. [cheers] the reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in

rural ohio than they are for those plagued by gang violence in cleveland, but don't tell me we can't uphold the second amendment while keeping ak-47s out of the hands of criminals. [cheers] i know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters deserve to visit the person they love in a hospital and to live lives free of discrimination. [cheers and applause] you know, passions may fly on immigration, but i don't know anyone who benefits when a mother is separated from her infant child or an employer undercuts american wages by

hiring illegal workers. but this, too, is part of america's promise, the promise of a democracy where we can find the strength and grace to bridge divides and unite in common effort. i know there are those who dismiss such beliefs as happy talk. they claim that our insistence on something larger, something firmer, and more honest in our public life is just a trojan horse for higher taxes and the abandonment of traditional values. and that's to be expected, because if you don't have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare voters. [cheers] if you don't have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from. [cheers] you make a big election about small things. and you know what? it's worked before, because it feeds into the cynicism we all

have about government. when washington doesn't work, all its promises seem empty. if your hopes have been dashed again and again, then it's best to stop hoping and settle for what you already know. i get it. i realize that i am not the likeliest candidate for this office. i don't fit the typical pedigree, and i haven't spent my career in the halls of washington. but i stand before you tonight because all across america something is stirring. what the naysayers don't understand is that this election has never been about me. it's about you. [cheers and applause] it's about you. for 18 long months, you have

stood up, one by one, and said, "enough," to the politics of the past. you understand that, in this election, the greatest risk we can take is to try the same, old politics with the same, old players and expect a different result. you have shown what history teaches us, that at defining moments like this one, the change we need doesn't come from washington. change comes to washington. [cheers and applause] change happens -- change happens because the american people demand it, because they rise up and insist on new ideas and new leadership, a new politics for a new time. america, this is one of those moments. i believe that, as hard as it will be, the change we need is coming, because i've seen it,

because i've lived it. because i've seen it in illinois, when we provided health care to more children and moved more families from welfare to work. i've seen it in washington, where we worked across party lines to open up government and hold lobbyists more accountable, to give better care for our veterans, and keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of terrorists. and i've seen it in this campaign, in the young people who voted for the first time and the young at heart, those who got involved again after a very long time, in the republicans who never thought they'd pick up a democratic ballot, but did. [cheers and applause] i've seen it -- i've seen it in the workers who would rather cut their hours back a day, even though they can't afford it, than see their friends lose their jobs, in the soldiers who re-enlist after losing a limb, in the good neighbors who take a stranger in when a hurricane

strikes and the floodwaters rise. you know, this country of ours has more wealth than any nation, but that's not what makes us rich. we have the most powerful military on earth, but that's not what makes us strong. our universities and our culture are the envy of the world, but that's not what keeps the world coming to our shores. instead, it is that american spirit, that american promise, that pushes us forward even when the path is uncertain, that binds us together in spite of our differences, that makes us fix our eye not on what is seen, but what is unseen, that better place around the bend. that promise is our greatest inheritance. it's a promise i make to my daughters when i tuck them in at night and a promise that you make to yours, a promise that has led immigrants to cross oceans and pioneers to travel

west, a promise that led workers to picket lines and women to reach for the ballot. and it is that promise that, 45 years ago today, brought americans from every corner of this land to stand together on a mall in washington, before lincoln's memorial, and hear a young preacher from georgia speak of his dream. [cheers and applause] the men and women who gathered there could've heard many things. they could've heard words of anger and discord. they could've been told to succumb to the fear and frustrations of so many dreams deferred. but what the people heard instead -- people of every creed and color, from every walk of life -- is that, in america, our destiny is inextricably

linked, that together our dreams can be one. "we cannot walk alone," the preacher cried. "and as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. we cannot turn back." america, we cannot turn back -- not with so much work to be done, not with so many children to educate, and so many veterans to care for, not with an economy to fix, and cities to rebuild, and farms to save, not with so many families to protect and so many lives to mend. america, we cannot turn back. we cannot walk alone. at this moment, in this election, we must pledge once more to march into the future. let us keep that promise, that american promise, and in the words of scripture hold firmly,

without wavering, to the hope that we confess. thank you. god bless you. and god bless the united states of america. [cheers and applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] ♪ [brooks and dunn - "only in america" plays] ♪

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>> barack obama's acceptance speech in 2008. we are probably less than eight hours away from the acceptance speech here in charlotte. back out on the streets of charlotte, n.c., nearby time warner cable arena.

the campaign calling off the plans to hold the last night outdoors and willet instead it be tonight. some 60,000 people signed up for community credentials. our coverage will get underway in about an hour or so. the hour preview coverage at 3:30 p.m. eastern. our guest will be ron fournier from the national journal, editor in chief. we will also hear from john kerry who is expected to talk about national security. vice president joe biden among the speakers tonight during the 10:00 hour. all of that gaveling in at 4:30 p.m. eastern. the camera continues to check out the sites outside the arena. one thing we can tell you is a former arizona congresswoman

gabrielle giffords will lead the pledge of allegiance this afternoon at 4:30 p.m. eastern. we are going to bring you some of the "playbook breakfast" this morning. [applause] >> good morning, everybody. >> we are honored to have with us and number of officials. you had a cameo to remember. >> i got a chance to acknowledge a son of massachusetts and north carolina, james taylor. i know how you feel. the biggest applause is when i said now we are going to go on to the music. >> you were in the hall last night. you were telling me backstage

that the reaction was even more than you expected. tell us what last night was like. >> i have only participated in two, 2008and 2012. the electricity, the interest, the fact that someone was describing it earlier in conventions when they gavel and for the opening ceremony, the hall is frequently empty but on tuesday night people were in their cheering and paying attention. the engagement of this audience have been terrific. i think the clear mindedness of what we have to do and the challenges in front of us are important. >> what was it like during president clinton's speech? >> people were not, frankly. [laughter]

president clinton is a terrific speaker. very relaxed and easy. it is a conversation he is having. he has a great way of weaving together flourish with fact and information. he is a very successful president on the economic side in particular so having him go through the economic plans and results and achievements of this president versus what is being offered by gov. mitt romney and congressman ryan was very helpful to people. folks want to have the data. they do not want to have a broken down in policy speak. i think the president was great about that. >> a point that we made here last night on c-span -- they

were talking about it this morning. both the content and the town of president clinton's speech was very different from what we have heard from the convention. we were not hearing much about the social issues. much more business-friendly approach. are we going to hear more of the bill clinton approach or a elizabeth warren tonight? >> i think the president first of all of these very much in the american dream and understands the democratic party is a party whose approach is about restoring the american dream and passing it on to another generation. i think he also understands there is a policy and plan specific to advancing the american dream. it is about education, innovation, energy, and infrastructure.

roads, rails, bridges, broadband access and so forth. >> president clinton mentioned that president eisenhower built the interstate system. >> bipartisan issues, issues that we understood required the involvement of government to help us help ourselves. not insolvent every problem but helping people help ourselves. it is a distinctive view of this party and president. >> you said it is time for democrats to stiffen our backbone. you said the list of accomplishments for president obama is long, impressive, and barely told. >> i do not know the reason but i am reminded of a visit the

president made to massachusetts about a year before my own reelection campaign in 2009. we were writing in from the airport together. i said, mr. president, i am looking forward to the campaign except for two things. i do not like to ask for money or bragging. he said, "get over it." he went on to say " if you do not tell your story, no one else will. what i found, in the course of my own campaign is that there we were in the midst of recovering -- sound familiar? it was enormously important for people to have you show your own confidence in your plan by talking about it and connecting these things. i would be in groups of supporters and say we have done

this, we have done this, we have done this. this is what is happening in employment and education. i remember that, or i did not know that. i want to give the president some of his own advice. get over it. it is important to talk about his accomplishments for their own sake and as well as an indicator othe progress that we are making and the fact that we need a second term to finish that work. >> you with the first african american governor in massachusetts. governor, you refer to yourself as a political amateur. you seem to have done pretty well the. >> it has turned out all right. [laughter] i have spent most of my life in

the private sector as you know. when i first ran, not only was my campaign improbable, but you cut the line of running for governor. people said maybe you should start someplace else. i wanted to run for governor because i wanted to set the agenda. this issue of generational responsibility. i found this incredible emphasis on short-term gains, managing for the next quarter. sometimes i think to the detriment of the long term interests of the enterprise. we govern for the next election cycle for the next news cycle which is something i think my predecessor was about. we are not thinking about and making decisions for the next generation. that used to be unique to

effective governing. i think we have some pretty good results to show for it. >> what could be the catalyst to change that? >> well -- i was at an event this week here in charlotte. charlotte has been marvelous. the welcome has been extraordinary. thank you. for the edward m. kennedy institute -- they called it a working library. one of the things that comes through in his career and in that library and also at the john f. kennedy library is this notion of political courage. you see a lot of people who are really, really good at accumulating political capital but not so many interested in

spending it. you have to be willing to campaign and to govern as if you are willing to lose. >> we sort of know what you mean but tell us what you mean by political capital. >> the notion that he went to be popular. i get all that. some of that is important in terms of driving york legislative agenda or executive agenda. there are going to be decisions that are going to be unpopular but are important. you owe the public the time to explain those decisions and try to win approval. that is one of the uses of the so-called bully pulpit. it is incumbent upon us to make those decisions. take for example of the things we have done around reforming

the pension system or the transportation system the fact that we are investing in education long term. you often do not get those results in a term or two. the fact that the president has put at the national level on the table a balanced approach to deficit reduction that also enables us to continue to make the investments in education and infrastructure that will leave a better country. i think we have to be willing to put those decisions on the table and not just discuss them but act on them. >> we would like to bring you into the conversation. if you have a question, we will bring you and microphone. or you can send us a tweet.

governor, you are out with an e- book about a call to the nation to reclaim america's values. you have a line in this book where you say, "i am a capitalist." we do not hear many people saying that over at time warner cable arena. >> it is a capitalist country. know when it is ashamed -- no one is ashamed of wealth or the accumulation of wealth. when i talk about my own opportunities and growing up on welfare and moving forward and being able to get a job, my story is not so different from other stories. i think it is a quintessential american stories. i do not think the market solves every problem or get it just

right at the right time. we have always understood in this country the government has a role to play. >> with the democratic party be smarter -- would the democratic be smarter to go more business- friendly? >> i do not know how to answer that. i think it is a characterization that the democratic party is not friendly to business is narrow and frankly unfair. >> you have said yourself that some attacks you do not agree with. >> i do not think bank capital is an evil company. there is a difference between creating wealth and creating jobs. creating wealth is not bad but it is not the same thing as creating jobs.

the folks i know who are in private equity are in a business which is about acquiring a company, dressing up the financials so it is more attractive, and in a very short period of time selling it on to a buyer. it is up to the buyer to figure out whether that company is in the condition to be successful whether there has been a number of people let go or what have you is sufficient to make sure that company can perform going forward. that is a different thing than what the private equity folks do. i will say that mitt romney who is a nice guy -- he has been a gentle man to me. i do not know him well, but in our own dealings together, he has been just fine them back i think he approached the

governing of massachusetts in some ways like a private equity-. he dressed up the financials said they looked better. >> this has been written a lot about. what do you think about the buying of hard drives? a lot of records did not go to the state. romney bought those computer hard drives so they are not in the public domain. >> there were hardly any records. that is why the transition was so smooth them that [laughter] . [laughter] the capital plan was three- quarters of a page long. they wiped computers, took their hard drives -- i do not know why

that was about. >> why do you think? >> i don't know. i am not going to take that bait. >> you met president obama 10 years before his famous speech to the democratic convention in 2004. tell us about the first time you heard those words, "barack obama." >> a wonderful fellow was on the white house counsel. he had been on the faculty at the university of chicago law school. he told me there is a guy i note in chicago. you remind me of him and he of you. what is his name? he said his name was barack obama. i heard about him from other

friends in chicago. we got together for a cup of coffee. the president at that time was practicing the voting rights law. we had a chance to visit. you have met him. maybe some of you have. he is a very warm and interesting and engaging person. we have stayed in touch. i have walked his political progress with enormous pride and excitement. >> could you imagine going into an obama administration? >> no. i like to be the boss. [laughter] it is fun. you can help from outside. you can help from the position of governor. my second term in 2013, we do not have term limits at home. i have a term limits named

diane. [laughter] i promised her two terms and that is it. >> we will go to you for questions in just two seconds, but you said you know mitt romney. >> i am a citizen of massachusetts. as governor, when i was a candidate -- there was a similar debate as there had been in massachusetts. folks on the left saying the only solution was single payer. folks on the right -- i would say there were more folks on the right who said this was the right solution who were not

private sector-oriented. everyone agreed that the health care system is complicated but important economically at home. a lot of concern that what we have might be broken. there was this idea floated out there about this individual mandate. when i first heard about it, i said sure. but i get it. it is a very traditional insurance idea. you spread the risk as broadly as possible to keep costs down. when it was signed, 2006, and the media and the public were just beginning to take my campaign seriously, it was signed. it was a great event. i was asked about what i thought about this health care reform. i said kudos to all of those who

participated. the fact that we have this broad coalition of business, labor, policy, and patient advocates and so on. governor romney called me. i did not know him and he did not know me. i did not matter in a political sense. he called and he said i just want to thank you for being so gracious. he sent me a note afterwards as well. he was proud of health care reform and i am proud of health care reform in massachusetts. that was our first interaction. >> how is it doing? >> it is doing wildly well. is that a proper term? >> you are speaking my language. >> over 98% of our residents are

insured. i think it is 90% of our presidents have a primary care physician and four out of five have seen that decision in the last 12 months. we are healthier and there are more businesses offering insurance to their employees today. i think the national average is 67% -- 60% or 70%. the affordable care act is about 50/50 in massachusetts. that is a telling inside in terms of selling it. the expansion added 1% of spending so it has not been a budget buster. we have moved on to the bigger challenge and that is the whole

cost containment. >> you said obamacare and same things.are of the >> day on the same things. the health care reform was signed into law before i took office. at some point probably after november, i >> i have a 50 plus business group. here in charlotte we have a wonderful african-american mayor. you are an african-american governor. a persistent problem in good times and in bad times is the incarceration rates of young, minority men, in particular, and they seem to have been left behind by today's economy. i was curious if you had any insights on how we can inspire

and engage young african- american men to participate more in the american dream. >> thank you for the question and the clear concern that motivates the question, and i share it. first of all, i don't think there is one solution. i think one of the things we struggle with in this country is the inclination to seek for that single, magic solution that reaches everybody. instead of dealing with the fact that people are different, their individual circumstances are different, and the solutions we need, some of which will involve government many of which cannot, have got to be a little more tailored to that individual. with that qualification, i would say some of the to reduce some of the solutions are the traditional ones. when i was growing up on the south of chicago, we were on welfare.

sidewalks were broken, playgrounds broken, neighborhoods broken, families broken. but it was a community. that was a time when every job was under the jurisdiction of every body on the block. he messed up downed street outside miss jones, she would go up said your hide -- upside your head and then call your parents. it was a state that each one of us had in our neighborhood, and our neighbors as well. the community has to be revived, not the same way. for example, at home, we know that communities, parents are looking more to the schools to create that sense of community that whole neighborhood used to provide. instead of saying we wish there is not that burden on the

schools, we say, how do we enable that school committee to meet those needs? i talked about one of those schools and i had the chance at the podium on tuesday night. i think the emphasis on education, which has been a path for me and for countless other americans over many generations out of hopelessness and into the middle class in mainstream america is still extraordinarily important. but it is the only area, it seems to me, where it is doubtful has an undue influence. people keep wanting education to be the way they remember it was when they were in school. even though the world has changed, the culture has continued to evolve. we need to be thinking about education in a fresh way. one thing i think that is central to what government has to do, and you mentioned the

incarceration rate -- a lot of folks who contribute to that disproportionate level of african-americans in prison are there for non-violent drug offenses. we have had this approach of, you know, we are going to warehouse them, in many cases by those who need treatment, rather than dealing with it as a public health issue. that has all kinds of implications around sentencing as a theory of criminal-justice. we have taken some steps there, but if i may be over brought here, read states with republican governors in the last few years, to their great credit, based on data, that have begun to dismantle some of these mandatory minimum sentences. we took a baby step this year

and i hope we will take a giant step next year. >> governor, we are getting the hook here. in 10 seconds, what is the outlook for the elizabeth warren-scott brown senate race? >> it is going to be close. she is going to win, but it will not be easy. scott brown is a really good campaigner. >> what convinces you she will win? >> she has a fantastic personal story. she is a very compelling individual with individual voters, and she has a fantastic ground game. >> governor patrick, thank you very much. have a great convention. [applause] >> do you feel like the father of the groom this week? >> my son is getting married

next week so i have been practicing. michael is getting married next saturday. that is the real stuff. >> i am proud of our party this week. it has been a spectacular convention so far. in i am looking forward to tonight. >> president obama is your friend, your boss, and your client. four years ago, how is the man you see tonight going to be different from four years ago? >> when people say, what is his most salient quality, i mean, he has a lot of great qualities, but the one that strikes me more than any is continuity. he and i were talking yesterday before we left for the -- before we got off the plane in charlotte, about how this is both our last campaign. and, you know, about this lunch we had at 10 years ago at a restaurant in chicago to talk

about his long-shot race for the u.s. senate and how far, you know, how long and interesting this journey has been. but the guy i sat across the table with and the guy i met 20 years ago as a young law student from harvard -- she was doing a voter registration drive at the time, he is the same guy i know today. obviously, the presidency changes you. he has an enormous growth curve. the kinds of grave decisions you have to make can have an impact on you, but there is a solid core to this guy. what is remarkable about him is not how much he has changed. it is about how much is the same person i have known, unpretentious, focused on the right thing. obviously, i deeply admire him. >> you're skeptical of taking him as a client? >> and the note -- no, i was not skeptical about taking him as a decline. it was about our chances of winning.

he was a long-shot candidate. i have told this story before. in the interest of full disclosure, one of my clients in the early days was rod blagoyovich. you may have heard of him. he came to me in 2001 and said he wanted to run for governor. i was first surprised and maybe a little appalled by that. i said, well, why? he said, you can help me figure that out. i said, if you cannot figure it out, i cannot help you. then he went and ran, and he ran a very proficient, very smart campaign. in the summer of 2002, he was about to get elected governor. he was running against a decent, principled conservative republican and. i was very -- i was depressed, really, because i thought his campaign was a pretty cynical.

he was running as a reformer at the time -- ironic. you know, i thought -- i came into politics as an idealist. i had to either find a way to recharge my batteries or i had funding else to do. at that time, i heard barack obama was running for the senate. he was not a highly-touted candidate. i said to my wife, you know, if i could help barack obama get elected to the senate, i would feel like i was doing something of value. i could recharge my batteries. so we hooked up around the campaign. it has been an incredible experience. i told him yesterday that i am grateful to him because i started as a 5-year-old, my interest in politics, when john f. kennedy came to my community in new york city and spoke and i was transfixed. i believe in this stuff. i came in as an idealist, and he is allowing me to finish as an idealist. >> what was that moment like on

the plane yesterday when you were talking about his journey? >> it was nice. >> where were you? >> we were sitting in the conference room of the air force one. which was considerably different from that bistro in chicago. you know, it was just a moment of reflection. but it is coming in know, every once in a while when you have a chance to catch your breath and look back at the road we have traveled, it has been an extraordinary journey. every once in awhile, it is nice to take a look back and see how fortunate you are. >> when you look at the republican convention in tampa, when you saw the sum of it, did you think that we dodged a bullet and they give is a huge gift here or this could be trouble? what did you think? >> i thought then and i think now they missed an opportunity. you know, there was a lot of

anger and insults directed at the president but not a lot of ideas for how to move the country forward. i think the people are genuinely looking for a sense of where these two men are going to lead. no, i think you'll find that our convention is much different in that regard. you listen to president clinton last night and michelle obama. our keynote speaker versus their keynote speaker. tonight from the vice-president and president. people are going to leave and they will get were these guys are going, understand their vision for this country and how we should get there. i think that is moving the ball forward. >> bring a clinician's eye for mitt romney. >> to get a little more insight into himself as a person. i am sure he gained from that. the downside was he did not give anybody a sense of really what he would do other than repeal everything that obama has done.

>> that might be popular in some places. >> it certainly was popular in that hall. but in the country, i do not think that is what people are looking for. they're not looking to refi the battles of yesterday to go there looking to move forward. they're not looking to repeat the policies of the last decade. he simply did not answer the question, what would you do and where would you leave? for that reason, i think his speech was a missed opportunity. >> in your world, tim pawlenty would have been the smartest vp pick for them. there's a lot of skepticism in the world about paul ryan. some tried to talk the governor out of it. how is that pick working for them? >> you know, i think that what he did do in picking ryan is he certified the kind of dogmatic, a audiological pitch to his campaign. you know, it was a merger with those very ideological house

republicans. paul ryan, intellectual leader of the republican party. in doing that, i assume he is a bracing, you know, that thinking. you can see that the romney platform reflects that, you know, $5 trillion tax cuts. >> he should not bring up platforms. >> [laughs] yes, thank you for that. there romney program does not reflect that. i mean, you know, there is this dogmatic faith that if we just cut taxes, particularly at the top of a massively, and if we cut back on all the rules for wall street, somehow everything will repair itself, the economy will take off. even though you're not paying for any of this, somehow the books will balance. and the middle class will thrive if people at the top thrive.

that alone is enough. i think that is a theory that has been tested. i think it has failed. but it is the one that governor romney has failed. picking paul ryan certified that. beyond that, i heard a leader pelosi talking about some of these social issues, particularly women's health issues. and ryan, you know, was right at the far edge of that discussion, has been in the house. you know, while he did not say the ill-consider things that congressman akin has said, he has certainly been his partner on a lot of these very, very harsh laws that would take away a woman's right to choose, that would limit contraception. you know, those kinds of things that are important. so this is basically what romney has fought. and i am not sure that it is going to work out well for him.

>> since you brought it up, how did those two deletions -- >> actually, i did not bring it up. i think you brought it up. [laughter] but i am not surprise. >> how did those two deletions occur? we are still there or we inserted at the president's direction. >> they were. i do not precisely know. obviously, it was done without the decedent's of the president. you know, when he saw what was going on, he said, just put it back. and that is what we did. i mean, we in no way meant to apply change in our party's platform or i did to the president's thinking about this, so we reasserted the 2008 language. >> how did you all discover it? >> well, i think it is fair to say it was brought to our attention by people who were scrutinizing our platform more

closely. so we learned about it when the republicans raised it, and it became, you know, the latest ball of yarn for the news media. >> and it was the president -- >> yeah. there were talking about on morning joe this morning, how did for president clinton's speech was then of the things we have been hearing in the hall. it was more centrist, more business-friendly. the things we will hear from the president tonight, will be along the more centrist line of clinton? >> i was actually on morning joe this morning when this came up. i think there is this fascination with this right to left kind of old paradigm. i think there is the thread of continuity between all the speakers that you will hear. there is certainly continuity between these two presidents

about how you grow the economy and what a healthy economy looks like, and it starts with the middle-class. nobody's more articulate on this subject than the president. you know, we strongly believe that a strong, healthy economy begins with a thriving middle- class and that there are certain things we have to do to help ensure that. we have to educate our people. we have to continue to keep our image in research and development and technology. we have to get control of our energy future. we have to have infrastructure. we have to deal with our fiscal challenges in a balanced and responsible way. i remember when bill clinton passed as deficit reduction package in 1993, and you remember it well also. not one republican vote because they said raising taxes even a little on upper-income americans would crush the job- graders. and it was one of the most productive periods in recent

times in our economy. now we're almost having the same debate. so tonight, i think when you hear the president talk about his vision, i think it is very much in continents with president clinton's vision. we have a view on how to grow the economy and we understand what our responsibilities are to each other out into that pursued. >> let's talk about the map a little bit. ojai looks very close. you have been ahead of it as some polls -- ohio looks very close. i do feel about ohio? >> i feel good about ohio. ohio, as government -- as governor kasich said in florida, is doing much better than it had been. >> the republican governor did say this, yes. >> what he did not say and what is the fact is that the president chose to intervene and save the american auto industry and that has had an enormously positive impact in ohio where one in eight jobs are related

to the automobile industry. the fact that governor romney opposed that action is kind of a defining debate in that state. for that reason, among others, i feel good about ohio. we have been had consistently. we're going to fight very hard for it. i think he is in real jeopardy there. >> whether or not he repeated in virginia depends on what? >> whether we get more votes. [laughter] what else do you need to know? [laughter] you know, i think virginia is going to be very close. virginia is closed now. i think it will continue to be close. a closely-divided state. we want to run our numbers up in northern virginia. i think the positions that governor romney has taken on issues like contraception is motivational for voters in that

area. virginia is a state that prizes education. you know, the governor stressed education. that was the key to va's economic reform which has been very good. so i think they would appreciate a president that believes education has to be at the core of our economic strategy, and that is going to help us in that state. but there's no doubt, they're called battleground states for a reason, and it will be very close. >> the obama campaign in the obama white house have been sophisticated in the approach to how people consume information. we had a guest here the talked about how they use the videos in the 2008 campaign. based on how people consume conventions, are we in sort of a bounce-free era. >> certainly after tampa, we're

in a bounce-free era. >> did you think he would get some balance? >> they predicted an 11-point bounce at one point, some of them. they thought the rig is a huge bounce out of ryan. by the way, in a sort of handbook of party chairman, do not said expectations higher than you can meet. he obviously missed that page. [laughter] >> it was michael steele's copy. >> but i think the nature of our politics right now, more than conventions, makes -- no, a lot of people have decided who were they are voting for. the movable part of the electorate is not as large as perhaps it has been in the past going into those conventions, and these came late. i think the prospect of a huge bounce and your convention is small. as you point out, the way people consume information now

is, you know, not everybody is sitting around watching conventions. the networks have cut back on their allotment. you know, the audiences have been smaller this year than four years ago. social media is carrying more of the load and we're trying to make use of that. but conventions are important but not probably as important as they once were. >> so what is important now? >> we want to finish up well here. i do not want to minimize the importance of them either. you get one shot to make your case in an unfiltered way to the american people between now and the election, and that is your acceptance speech. we saw what governor romney did -- i am looking forward to the president having this opportunity tonight. we have three debates coming up, presidential debates and one vice-presidential debate. those are obviously going to be important. and in the day-to-day coverage. interesting thing about president races, we are being

outspent and we will continue to be about -- but the combination of romney and the super pac's on television. but as you move along and after labor day, what is a important is much less what is in the advertising and much more what happens on a day-to-day basis because people get so much coverage in the course of their news that they will for in their judgments based on what they see. >> tell us and we do not know about the president's speech tonight. >> well, hopefully everything -- you do not know anything about the president's speech tonight. [laughter] we have had a major breach of security if you do. you know what ramallah would tell you about his speech is -- you know what, all i would tell you about his speech is, you know, the romney speech was dragging to me in that it was interspersed in a speech that was largely personable about himself with some fairly caustic remarks about the

president. you know, we're not interested in coming tonight to bodies them governor romney or to tear him down. we're interested to talk about how we can lift the whole country up. you know, so i think the speech is a very positive speech. it is one that will give people more than they got last week, a sense of where we need to go. beyond that, i do not want to skip the president on his own speech. >> on the viewership, the u.s. and the republicans watch the republican convention and democrats watched the democrat convention -- and do you assume that? >> i'd think that is somewhat true. you can look at the fox ratings. you know, if there were twice as large or more than twice as large for the republican convention, and you know, that is the home town network of the republican party. you know, that is a barometer of that.

but i do think that there are some voters were legitimately trying to decide and cartooning in and really want to hear the case -- and are tuning in and really want to hear the case. i see growing enthusiasm. everywhere we have gone in the last week -- i have been traveling with the president, and the crowds have exceeded our expectations. the money, small contributions are exceeding our expectations. all the signs that you hope to see are beginning to surface. obviously, a great convention like this will help in terms of spurring people's enthusiasm. i do think that swing voters will watch. >> you think it will be tied after this? >> i think it will be close.

there is never going to be a huge gap. i don't think that the structure of the electorate and the nature of our times will allow that. i am not going to -- having already criticized others for being too rationally exuberant about the prospect of a convention bounce, i don't think i'd better engage in that here. i am hopeful that we will get an advantage out of this, but in any case, we will get a chance to make our case. >> this is your last campaign. among the house you will wear in your next life as academia. >> not quite academia, but i am going to the university of chicago to start an institute of politics. i want to inspire young people to go into the public arena not just as candidates but as policy people, political people.

i really believe in this. i understand that this is a solid process -- sullied process, it can be grinding and discouraging, but i don't think there's anything you can do that is as exciting as helping to shape the future. i want to communicate that to young people. there are a handful -- there they are in the back -- students from the university of chicago who will be involved in our institute who politico has hosted as interns this week, for which we are grateful. i can tell you that before i came out here -- what we hope will happen is that they are getting a chance to see this close-up and they are getting infected with the budget. i don't mean the democratic party bug. >> the political bug. >> the political bug -- not the

politico bug, either. [laughter] although, there will be forums, and mike allen will be at one of them, although he doesn't -- [laughter] we will get consultants, strategists, speech writers, policy people, and a new generation of leadership. >> we are grateful for the university of chicago team, we appreciate c-span, newschannel 8, thank you into "the charlotte observer" for the great partnership. thank you for a great conversation. [applause] >> during the republican and democratic conventions, we are

asking high school students to send a message to the president as part of this year's studentcam video documentary competition. students will answer the question, what is the most important issue the president should consider in 2013? there are $50,000 in total prize is available. the competition is open to students' grades 6 through 12. for complete details and rules, golan line -- go online. >> i want c-span and the book portion of c-span -- i watch because i feel it is important to be knowledgeable about what is going on in the world. i feel that c-span gives the most information about what is going on in specific subjects, where a lot of television does not do that. >> hill repaid watches c-span on comcast.

>> good afternoon. from the time warner cable arena, the final day of the democratic national convention. the last order business will be the president excepting his party's nomination during the roll call of states which took place early this morning in charlotte. ohio is a key battleground state in this election. the rain is falling at this hour care of one of the reasons that the organizers moved from bank of america to back inside the time warner rihanna. shortly after 1:00 a.m., vice- president -- time warner arena. surely after 1:00 a.m., vice- president joe biden will begin. proceedings will begin in about an hour.

until then, we will be taking your phone calls and sitting at the agenda for this convention. let's begin with a look at the schedule for the next couple of hours. how let's begin at 9:10 p.m. when jill biden will be introducing her husband. that will be followed by vice- president joe first lady michelle obama will introduce president obama. the rehearsal is continuing at this hour. you'll hear that behind us. we want to welcome the editor in chief of "the international journal." what are the challenges that the president is facing tonight? >> it has become a cliche to say the obvious. he has to lay out a vision for how he will turn around the country. he has not had a whole lot specifics so far. i would not look like -- and would not look like for a state of the union address with a lot of details. but something with me on the bones.

i think it will be hard for him to tell something that people don't already know. they know he can give a good speech. they know he can make them inspired. they know he can talk about the future in a way that is hopeful and inspirational. but they don't know that he can turn around the economy and that is what people want to see. >> last night, was so much attention on former president bill clinton, basically laid out an agenda for a second term. ron brown says it was not an particularly eloquent speech. did it do the job? >> i think former president clinton, covering him back in arkansas, knocked it out of the park. he had three goals. one was to go negative in a way that did not turn off middle-of- the-road voters and nobody is better that than bill clinton, who can cut you with a smile on his face. second, he had to be nostalgia,

look backward at the 1990's and cash back to where you want to return to. return to.